1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a limb guard for protecting a part of a limb, more particularly to a limb guard which includes a one-piece impact absorbing member with lateral wing sections of a thickness smaller than that of a central section thereof such that each of the lateral wing sections can flex toward the part of the limb relative to the central section to conform with and fit the contour of the part of the limb.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a first conventional limb guard for protecting a part of a limb from an external impact force is shown to include an elongate pad member 13 and a one-piece resilient impact absorbing member 15.
As illustrated, the pad member 13, which is made from a soft and flexible material, includes an abutment inner layer 130 adapted to be wrapped around a part of a limb in a lengthwise direction of the limb to shield the latter, and a cushion outer layer 131 stitched to the inner layer 130 to form a receiving space for accommodating the impact absorbing member 15 such that the latter can absorb the external impact force applied on the pad member 13. The impact absorbing member 15 is substantially curved, and includes a longitudinally extending central section 150, and two lateral wing sections 151 which are integrally formed with and which extend laterally from two longitudinal edges of the central section 150 so as to define a flexing juncture between the central section 150 and each of the lateral wing sections 151 such that the lateral wing sections 151 are capable of bending relative to the central section 150. In order to resist and consequently absorb an external impact force, the impact absorbing member 15 is formed to have a uniform thickness throughout the entire length thereof. As such, the flexibility of the impact absorbing member 15 is limited. As a result, the lateral wing sections 151 are not capable of bending sufficiently relative to the central section 150 to match the contour of the part of the limb.
A second conventional limb guard has been proposed to obviate the above-mentioned drawback. As shown in FIG. 2, the pad member 10 is formed as a carrying bag with a plurality of elongate compartments 11 which extend in a lengthwise of the limb upon which the pad member 10 is to be fastened. The impact absorbing member includes a plurality of impact absorbing elements 12 received in the elongate compartments 11 respectively in such a manner that the second conventional limb guard can provide sufficient flexibility to fit the contour of the user's limb. However, a plurality of columns of clearances are formed between adjacent ones of the impact absorbing elements 12 along the stitch lines 102 of the pad member 10, thereby resulting in unsatisfactory protection from the external impact force.